Tag: health

Miwa Sado is a Japanese journalist who died in 2013 after working too hard. Her case became public this week after labour inspectors publisheda detailed report.

The journalist worked 160 hours of overtime a month and then died of heart failure. She was working for Japan’s public broadcaster NHK and at the time of her death was gathering information on a Tokyo election .

The death of Sado is expected to make the Japanese government more aware of the health risks involved in working too much. According to a survey, about one in five workers risk a critical health condition because of too much work . Now the government wants to limitovertime to a maximum of 100 hours a month and fine companies that do not comply.

In another case that became known, 24-year old Matsuri Takahashi, killed herself in 2015 after suffering from stress and working long hours for a a Japanese advertisingagency.

Japanese employees , on average, work more hours than anywhere else in the western world. They also consume only a third of the holidays they are entitled to. Many Japanese work hard in order to show that they are loyal to their company.

In 2016, two thousand Japanese workers killed themselves due to stress and overwork. Many other died from stress-related diseases, suffering from heart attacks and high blood pressure. The Japanese refer to such work-related deaths as karoshi.

Too much work causes stress and illnesses

Words

according to = as reported by

advertising agency = company that designs ads for other companies

aware = when you know that a situation exists

blood pressure = the power with which blood flows through your body

case = here: what happened to her

comply = follow the rules and laws

consume = use up ; spend

critical = dangerous

due to = because of

election = when people vote to choose someone for an official position

employee = person who works for a company

entitled = the right to have something

fine = money that you have to pay as punishment

gather = collect

government = the people who rule the country

heart failure = when your heart stops beating

labour inspector = a person who checks to see if companies obey the rules and the law

limit = here: not allow more than a certain number

loyal = here: to show that you are connected to a company

overtime = time that you spend working in addition to your normal working hours

public = known about by everyone

public broadcaster = TV company that belongs to the state

publish = to print something so that everyone can read it

refer = call

stress-related = coming from stress

survey = set of questions that you ask many people in order to find out what they think about a topic

For the first time England’s Prince Harry has talked about how he struggledemotionally after the death of his mother , Lady Diana, in September 1997. The 32 year old prince said that the the past few years of his life had been disturbing until finally his brother, William, urged him see a counselor.

Harry told journalists that it took him almost two decades to finally get over the tragic event. When Princess Diana died in a car accident, Harry was 12 years old.

He said that counselling helped him a lot because it is always good to open yourself up to a complete stranger. Apart from getting professional help, Harry started boxing to help overcome his grief.

In his late 20s Harry said that he had felt angry and left alone . He almost suffered a nervous breakdown as well. He said he had been dealing with the situation by not thinking about his mother and sticking his head into the sand.

Together with Prince William and his sister-in-law, Kate, Harry started the Heads Togethercampaign , a charity that helps people who have psychological problems.

Prince Harry – Image: Staff Sgt. Andrew Lee

Words

apart from = besides, also

campaign = movement ; events about a certain topic

charity = organization that gives money or goods to people who are poor or need help

The American pharmaceutical conmpany Pfizer has said it will no longer sell drugs that can be used for lethal injections to the Amercian government. A total of 7 substances on the list are mostly used for operations and certain illnesses but are also in liquids used for executions. According to a Pfizer representative, the company’s aim is to save lives and not help kill people.

Pfizer says it will closely monitor buyers who try to resell the drugs to state institutions, which may use them for executions.

After Pfizer’s decision , there are no more companies in the USA and Europe that sell lethal injection drugs to the Amercian government . The European Union has banned the export of such drugs to the US.

As a result, state authorities are trying to find new drugs and combinations of substances that can be used for executions. Normally, three mixtures of drugs are used to execute a prisoner. The first one makes you unconscious , the second liquidparalyses the muscles and the third stops the heart from beating.

In the past few years, the number of executions has decreased, in partdue to the availability of lethal drugs. Last year only 28 executions were carried out in the US. Among the 32 states that allow capital punishment, all of them use lethal injections as the main method of execution but some allow the electric chair,hanging, the firing squad and the gas chamber as alternatives.

Human rights organizations and other groups opposed to capital punishment have welcomed Pfizer’s decision as a bold move to ban the death penalty in the United States.

Lethal injection room in San Quentin, California

Words

according to = as said by …

aim = what someone wants to do or achieve something

authorities = group of people who make decisions and have power in certain areas

availability = the fact that something can be bought and used

ban = forbid, not allow

bold move = action that shows a lot of courage

capital punishment = to officially kill a person who has committed a crime

combination = mixture

death penalty = to officially kill a person who has committed a crime

decrease = go down

drug = chemical that is used as medicine

due to = because of

execution = the official killing of a person by the state

firing squad = group of people who are ordered to shoot and kill a prisoner

government = the people who rule a country

human rights = the basic rights that everyone should have, like the right to vote or the freedom of speech

illness = disease

in part = partly

lethal injection = a drug that is injected into your blood stream; it is used to execute people who have committed certain crimes

liquid = substance like water

main = most important

method = way

mixture = here: combination of liquids

monitor = watch closely

opposed to = against

paralyse = if a person cannot move arms or legs or feel anything

pharmaceutical = about producing medicine

resell = sell again

substance = here: drug, medicine

unconscious = if you are not awake and do not know what is going on around you